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December 31, 2010

RIM Speaks Out On Playbook Power Issues

by Sam Savage

BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion (RIM), defended its emerging PlayBook tablet computer against criticism over its supposedly weak battery life, stating that the tablet will have comparable power management to other devices.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu issued a report on Tuesday citing unnamed sources as saying the PlayBook's battery lasts only a few hours, compared with Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which lasts six hours, and Apple's iPad, which runs for up to 10 hours on a single charge.

Wu told CNET News that RIM may have been forced to delay the launch of PlayBook so it could revamp the product, which was unveiled in late September and was due for release in early 2011.

But the Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM dismissed Wu's claims. RIM also offered an explanation of why outside testers may have assumed the battery would be weak.

"Any testing or observation of battery life to date by anyone outside of RIM would have been performed using pre-beta units that were built without power management implemented," the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Development of the battery was on schedule and its performance would be comparable to its rival devices, it said.

Most analysts are forecasting RIM will sell fewer than 4 million PlayBook tablets in the 12 months after its launch. The tablet will face a tough uphill battle to compete with the likes of the iPad.

Apple has sold more than 7 million units of its iPad since launching the device in April and analysts expect as many as 6 million more to have been sold in the last quarter of the year.